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Dickson Co. acclaimed choral educator Cindy Freeman being honored

It goes without saying that Dickson County High School has changed considerably since 1975. One element of “Cougar Hill” that has remained the same is the contributions of Cindy Freeman, who has led the DCHS Choral Department since then.

It goes without saying that Dickson County High School has changed considerably since 1975.

One element of “Cougar Hill” that has remained the same is Cindy Freeman, who has led the DCHS Choral Department since that time, making many educational contributions in the community over the decades.

Freeman will be celebrated this Saturday at the Clement Railroad Hotel Museum in Downtown Dickson in what has been described as “An evening of Food, Music and Stories.” The event is 5-7 p.m.

Speakers will include former Dickson County High principal George Caudill; George Mabry, former choral director of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra; and Joe Giles, former Tennessee art education director.

Catering will be provided by Carol Heflin, former longtime owner of The Front Porch.

Music will be provided by concert harpist Carol McClure and the DCHS Alumni Choir.

Joey Holley, principal at DCHS, says that Freeman embodies all that makes the high school great.

“There are a lot of words that you could use for Mrs. Freeman and everything she has meant to Dickson County High School, and our community,” said Holley.

“She usually has as good of a choir, and as great of an organization as anyone in the state. It’s because of her and her leadership that those things have happened. She definitely does a tremendous job here at this school as far as everything you would want out of your director. She motivates the kids to do things that they usually just don’t wind up doing here, but they also do it in college. Some of her former students are running programs of their own now."

Some of those ‘great things’ from Freeman’s alumni include not just performances around the United States, but also the world.

In 2012, more than 200 choir alumni of Dickson County High School from in and outside of the county returned for a public concert at First Baptist Church in Dickson.

Freeman had taught all of them. Her students have won numerous national and international awards for choral competitions touting technical nuances and mastery of musical competition.

"I've been teaching so long – my students are now my friends," said Freeman at the event four years ago. "And just like you want to get together with your friends and do stuff, I just wanted to do this..."

"I love teaching my high school students, but for years I dreamed of an alumni choir of mature voices and imagined the sound that could be created by so many adult voices coming together," she added. "This group never disappoints."

Holley says it’s those memories that continue to be a part of her legacy.

“My son experienced the program for three years, and he got to experience the Yuletide Feast,” he says of DCHS’s annual Holiday tradition. “He was the main character in one of them. He was always knee deep in it. I remember one of the highlights of his class was getting to go to Carnegie Hall. He went on a cruise this summer, and had such a great experience."

A lot of times, we take for granted events like that. Those could be the only times that some of those kids get to see some of those places. They go off in life without ever getting to go to New York, let alone, singing from the stage of Carnegie Hall. There are so many things that have become a part of that program.”

Holley stresses that Freeman is not one that is going to let her students slide by without doing their best, but it all works out the way it should.

“She demands perfection, and she demands it be done her way. When you’ve put the time in it the way she has, she knows what it should look like, sound like, taste like, and all of that. Sometimes, that can rub some students the wrong way at first, but the end result is when they perform, they are always ready and they sound great. When you demand excellence, you usually see it in a full blown aspect.”

Holley tips his hat to Freeman for all she has done – and continues to do for “Cougar Pride.”

“The pride our alumni has never changes. We’re at about a fifty percent clip of people who work here being graduates from here. That’s just a very neat thing to have in a community, and is very powerful because of so many people that would do anything for this school. That’s a direct result of people like her that they do those things.”